The present invention relates generally to the field of vehicle seats. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle seat having a manual track release that automatically resets.
It is known to provide seats for vehicles (i.e., automobiles) that include seat backs that are able to be reclined by a user. Such seats may be configured for movement along a track in a fore and aft direction (e.g., forward towards the front of the vehicle and back towards the rear of the vehicle).
In certain applications, a vehicle seat back may be configured to fold downward toward the seat base. For example, a rear seat in a truck or van may be rotated toward the seat base to provide a larger cargo area in the rear of the vehicle. Where the seat is configured for movement along a track, rotation of the seat back toward the seat base may enable free movement of the seat along the track (i.e., the rotation of the seat back may disengage a locking mechanism that secures the seat in place along the track, which in turn allows the folded seat to move freely along the track). However, in order to lock the folded seat in place relative to the track (i.e., to prevent free movement along the track), the user must manually lock the seat in place using, for example, a latching mechanism or the like. One disadvantage of such an arrangement is that locking the seat in place is relatively cumbersome and generally requires two-handed operation (e.g., one hand to move the seat and another to engage the locking mechanism).
It would be advantageous to provide a vehicle seat that is configured for movement relative to a track in the folded position and which may be locked in place relatively easily and with less effort than is known with respect to conventional vehicle seats. It would also be advantageous to provide a track release mechanism for a vehicle seat that may be manually operated and that may manually reset itself to allow the user to relatively simply lock the seat in place along the track. It would be desirable to provide a vehicle seat that provides any one or more of these or other advantageous features as will be apparent from the following description.